Blue Light of Death (BLOD) Bricks Sony PlayStation 4 Consoles

Sony's PlayStation 4 console has undoubtedly roared off to a great start, shipping over 1 million units in North America in just 24 hours but amongst those fast and furious hot new PS4 shipments apparently are a fair percentage of duds. Microsoft fell victim to a thermal issue early on with Xbox 360 units when they first shipped, with end user experiencing the dreaded RRoD or Red Ring of Death. Apparently now Sony and new PS4 owners are feeling the burn but in the form of a blue hued source known as the "BLOD" or Blue Light Of Death.

Instead of pulsing blue and then turning white, a troubled PS4's blue light will remain on pulsing.

BLOD sounds even more menacing, doesn't it? Apparently the results are similar and there are a fair number of console casualties out in the wild as well.

From user reports on an Amazon product rating page, it looks like Sony is quoting 2 - 3 weeks to have units repaired and re-shipped out to user. And with over 500+ 1-star negative user ratings of the product and climbing, it's apparent some users are very unhappy.

What's worse, rather than making a gesture in good faith to consumers, Sony reps are also apparently taking the opportunity to up-sell users on a 2 year extended warranty. For $39, in reality, it's probably cheap insurance and peace of mind. But Sony ought to know better and offer it for free in exchange for the inconvenience of a defective product, or at the very least offer a steep discount.

Here's a look at a BLOD in action on a brand new PS4...

Youtube user Josh Moore demonstrates trying to boot a new PS4 console into safe mode to no avail.

Our word of advice would be to keep those consoles well ventilated and away from other hot components. There's no indication that this is particularly a thermal issue but aside from just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best every time you game on Sony's new machine, that's about all you can do to avoid a bricked PS4. Ultimately, if you got a dud, you'll find out one way or another. Let's just hope the scope of the problem doesn't widen any further and Sony steps up its recovery plan to take care of some very unhappy early PlayStation 4 gamers.